Friday, January 2, 2015

2015 Reread Challenge

Posted by
K

It's 2015 and, as a friend of mine reminded us all on Facebook, the angels are about to start attacking Tokyo-3. Those of you who have seen Evangelion will know what happens next. Humanity is now taking back-up pilot applications. We'll try to make the process as quick as possible, but it all depends on how quickly we can make Jagers to compete with NERV's offerings.

In all seriousness, though, it's now the 2nd January and we're all bursting with good intentions. I'm super-excited to have signed up for Novel HeartBeat's Prequels and Sequels challenge for this year, but I wanted to do a little something extra for 2015 too.

Ever read a book that is so awesome, it literally knocks you off your feet, and all you want to do is rhapsodize about how awesome it is? Or a book that plunges you into complete existential crisis (not unlike the last two episodes of Evangelion?) Or a story that all you want to do is read again and again, but your TBR is threatening to collapse on top of you, so you just give it an honorary place on your bookshelf and resolve to get back to it when you have more time?

2014 was the year I realized just how I've changed as both a reader and a reviewer. Series that I originally loathed turned out to surprise me in their second and third installments, series that I loved turned out to be disappointing (for reasons that I would have never thought of previously) and books that I previously did not read because I was sick and tired of lit-snobbery made me smile and enjoy myself like I hadn't before. (I also read a ton of romance and erotica and enjoyed it completely unironically. Oh, if my schoolmates could see me now!)

As for my reviewing style, a cursory look through Goodreads might yield the answer to that particular question. I've either mellowed out a lot, or I don't have the energy to spend on long, vitriolic posts describing just how much I hate something and everything that's wrong with it.

Which you might argue is the same thing.

Either way, it's made me curious about all these books that I used to love and that I enjoyed. I wonder how they would hold up afterwards, and if I will enjoy them as much as I used to.

Hence my 2015 re-read challenge: I will strive to read at least 10 books that I have read (and hopefully, reviewed) and then post my thoughts here for your viewing pleasure. I won't just be checking out books that are the first parts of series that I need to finish (although I discovered that my memories of Queen of the Dead are quite scarce, though I remember loving it to bits.) They might also not be just YA, which means I might either just review them on BookLikes, or put them here if you prefer. (Or offer them up to Bibliodaze, if they'll have me.)

So would you like to join me for this?

Are there books on your favorites shelf that you are dying to revisit, or haven't thought of at all since you read and you want to get back to, or ones that jump out at you while you browse?

For myself, I can tell you, there are a lot:

- The Ghost and the Goth series by Stacy Kade

- Sputnik Sweetheart and Kafka on Shore by Haruki Murakami (both of which I loved as a teen and both of which I'd like to revisit again)